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Shopping Cart Software: The Basics

Article ID: 59

Last updated on June 11, 2014

Authored by: Rackspace Support

Shopping cart software offers more than just payment processing. Most programs come packed with a variety of features to enable you to create and manage an online store. Options include everything from webpage and storefront design, shipping and tax calculation, inventory and accounting functions, promotional tools such as coupons and gift certificates, security features, and even marketing services to help direct customers to your site.

Key parts of the equation are how many different products you’re selling, how much technical work you want to take on yourself and what your budget is. A merchant with a small line of products will have different needs and require different resources than a retailer with thousands of products. If you’re more interested in selling your product and developing your business than designing and maintaining a website, there are software packages that offer multiple levels of support. If you’re a web developer who’s not afraid to take on programming duties and code writing, there are options that can be extremely affordable.

A few considerations:

Scalability. You may be selling just a few items right now, but your needs may change as your business grows. You may need to add more bells, whistles and bandwidth as traffic increases. Find out what your options are in terms of additions as you grow – some programs start off inexpensively but become budget-busters when you need to add on other functions.

Security. E-commerce sites are required to meet the requirements of the Payment Card Industry – Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) for storing, transmitting and processing payment information (PCI-DSS compliance). In addition, you need to protect your site from hackers and oMether security issues. The solution comes from a couple of sources: consider the security features of shopping cart software along with the security features your hosting provider offers.

The Magento website states their open source version is “for expert developers and technical enthusiasts in non-mission critical environments; intended for those with the time and resources needed to solve issues independently.” All others, consider the professional (paid) versions of Magento.

A good basic shopping cart for experienced, professional web developers; too complicated for non-technical beginners, but could be a good starting point for having a pro customize a website.

Software developers; store owners; anyone ready to create an e-commerce platform for their business and looking for professional support.

With professional support services, this software is for virtually anyone who needs to get a store up and running quickly and simply. Ideal for non-programmers who do not have IT staff.

Bottom Line

Popular for its strong feature set, but add-ons required for basic needs such as full security and PCI compliance. Takes some programming knowledge unless you’re willing to pay for professional level support.

Good basic cart with many add-ons and modifications available (at extra expense), depending on your needs.